


Think of you always

by Serpensortia_parapluie



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Don't copy to another site, Linked Footnotes, Other, thoughts appear on soulmate's skin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-08-23 17:33:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20246650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serpensortia_parapluie/pseuds/Serpensortia_parapluie
Summary: Humans have Soulmates. Angels, and demons whousedto be angels, do not.Stationed on Earth since the Beginning, how do Aziraphale and Crowley feel about that?





	Think of you always

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own, nor am I associated with the creators of _Good Omens_, in all of its incarnations. I do not give my permission for this work to be shared on sites like Goodread.  
I'm aware this feels like a beginning to a much larger piece- a prologue, and I'm not denying that it might have more to it some day. However, that day is nowhere soon. The amount of coding I had to do for all the footnotes was insane, plus I have an insane amount of wips in my files.  
Also, I'm procrastinating on important life decisions that absolutely have a deadline and I cannot afford to wait on, so maybe you'll see some more works from me soon! (because I make wonderful life decisions like that.)  
Title is from Queen's _Good old-fashioned Lover Boy_, and I'm not associated with them either.__  
HEY, SO I DON'T THINK THE FOOTNOTES WORK RIGHT NOW. LET ME KNOW, OKAY? please & thank you  
EDIT 3-23-2020: Got a lovely comment informing me the footnotes do not work. Am currently in battle, please inform me if I win.  
As of 3 pm, the links down to the footnotes _should_ work. Now working on the return part.  
3:20 pm, should work now. Let me know.

CHAPTER ONE: INCONVENIENCES

\- - -

Blending in with the mortals isn’t difficult- except for that one, important, pesky little aspect that neither of them have any idea of how to deal with until their Arrangement has been firmly in place for decades.

Namely; Soulmates.

Neither Aziraphale nor Crowley have them. They’re angels, technically speaking.[1] Souls are humanity’s purview, and angels, as a Rule, do not have them.

God, in Her infinite Grace and Wisdom, gave humanity souls so they could live on after death, and also granted them soul _mates_. It’s been hotly debated ever since whether or not that was a good idea. Angels are required to toe the party line that Soulmates are Gifts From God and are in fact, fantastic and all things wonderful and nothing to regret at all. However, there’s no denying that wars have been started and atrocities committed because some people either loved their Mates too much or too little, or coveted other people’s Mates, so some angels are a little privately morally torn on the subject.[2]

There’s no strict ratio of how many souls can resonate with one another, but on Earth, there has never been a single soul without at least one other soul bound to theirs. Now, there’s no guarantee they’ll ever meet, or even like each other very much once they have if they do. Humans are peculiar that way. But every human has one, and they are important to one another when it comes down to it.

Adam and Eve were the first soulmates. They only had one candidate for who it could be, and things were rather simple then. Things got a little[4] more confusing once other people started popping up and the population reached the millions and then eventually the billions, but everyone on Earth had the Marks.

Except for Aziraphale and Crowley.

-

At first, it didn’t occur to either of them that not having Marks was odd- they are supernatural beings who’d existed an untold amount of time before the world ever began and never once, in all that time before time, did they have Marks. So it wasn’t until _not_ having Marks caused suspicion and dislike amongst the mortals they associated with that they realized they should probably try to blend in a tad better.

They tried faking them- Aziraphale faded some words to grey on his skin, pretending he’d lost his Mate, but somehow, people always knew they weren’t genuine, and gave him a wide berth after they found out.[5]

For a few centuries, Crowley went about with all sorts of bracelets and gauntlets and arm circlets that covered a large enough patch of skin, as was often the fashion for those who didn’t care to share their Mate’s thoughts with the world. And yet, he always got comments about how his Marks were unnaturally still and often got thrown out of town for the same reason.[7]

They could make it so the humans didn’t notice. Humans, as a whole, rather expect things to be as they ought to be when they see something, and as a result, tend not to actually look at what they’re seeing; and end up missing quite a lot. Some con artists do quite well for themselves, keeping that tendency in mind. Dress appropriately, carry a clipboard, and look like you belong, and most people will accept it without question. Crowley and Aziraphale take advantage of this little fact quite often.

They _could_ do that, but it requires constant attention to detail and a low-level glamour[8] at all times that requires paperwork filed bi-monthly, in triplicate. Which is really not worth the bother, for all that it was necessary to blend in.

-

The Arrangement had been a Thing for one-hundred and thirty-eight years by the time either of them thought of a solution to this little difficulty.

Frankly, they hadn’t dedicated all that much time to the subject over the millennia, having much more important things to focus on, like making sure both of their paperwork carefully conveyed the idea that their side was triumphing over the dastardly and wily foe, but not overwhelmingly so. It wasn’t something that came up all the time, but was frequent enough to be a bother. Rather like a malfunctioning check engine light, it quite simply slipped their minds whenever not immediately in front of them.

One of them- they’d quite forgotten which- suggested that perhaps they could come up with something together to deal with this annoyance, and the other agreed that something must be done. That was the end of it, until now.

See, Aziraphale had recently come into possession of a book.

Normally nothing out of the ordinary, except this book suggested a ritual used in the past to link together two people who were _not_ Soulmates in a way that was visually indistinguishable from actual Soulmates. The two of them shared some very nice wine after a delightful spread of seafood to celebrate Crowley’s most recent masterful triumph over Aziraphale’s latest attempt at Good and Aziraphale’s equally triumphant success at thwarting Crowley’s evil wiles, and deep in his cups, Aziraphale mentioned the ritual off-handedly.

Such a funny little thing, he said, more focused on how the wine in his cup should not be as low as it was. His cup refilled itself to the brim, and he mumbled that it was strange, wasn’t it, how some humans preferred to choose their Mates for themselves instead of relying on the Marks. Quite lovely, in a way- having the choice and choosing, both- but still strange that they should choose to Mark themselves and ignore the ones from God.

That made Crowley sit up and notice through the haze of his own drunkeness. Oh? He asked, disinterested in the way that showed that he was markedly interested. And however did they manage that, he wondered. Thought the Marks were a Gift from God, weren’t they? The two of them were there when the first Markss appeared, they should know, angel. Why, he’d never heard of such a thing, humans Marking themselves. Whatever would they think of next.

Did Aziraphale happen to _know_ the ritual the humans used?

As it happened, he did not, but he did know the _name_ of the ritual, and that was quite enough information for Crowley to go off of.

See, he’d gotten an idea in his head from that conversation, a wickedly clever idea, if he said so himself, which he didn’t, because it might tip off Aziraphale what he was planning and make him disagree pre-emptively. Better to beg forgiveness than permission, and all that.[9]

-

Three months later, Crowley had located not only the ritual, but all of the components necessary, but he was having second thoughts. See, it would really be monstrously clever and stop all of the over the top horrified reactions humans had when they saw he lacked Marks, but perhaps the risks outweighed the benefits.

After all, God had not seen fit in Her Infinite Wisdom to grant Marks or Mates to the angels in Her keeping, back before it all, well before Eden. Nor did she grant it to them After- no, especially not then.

The implication being that angels and occult beings somewhat like angels in origin did not have someone out there for them, to compliment or oppose them and bring them to- not completion, but more-ness.[10]

She might be a Tad Upset, if he and another occult- no, sorry, _ethereal_\- being went around giving themselves airs, like they could have Marks and Mates and Souls like the humans. While Management Upstairs and Downstairs didn’t take too much notice of what was going on in between, She might notice, and take Offense.

Maybe better not, he figured, shelving the idea for another day only to find that Aziraphale had beaten him to it and rather thought it was a good idea. That settled that.

They were doing it.[11]

-

Eventually, long enough passed that they almost completely forgot that they had ever not had the faux-Marks, except, of course, for how they never really _forgot_ anything.

Aziraphale liked the convenience of it. Anytime he fancied a conversational partner, it was a simple matter to direct his thoughts to Crowley.

_ **Fancy a cuppa, my dear?** _

While Crowley enjoyed teasing Aziraphale through the Marks.

_ **Tsk-tsk Angel, Wrath is a sin, you know. What did that poor tourist ever do to you?** _

By and large, they much approved of this new aspect of their Arrangement and completely, utterly, beyond a shadow of a doubt agreed that Heaven and Hell could never hear anything about it.

-

By the time the Apocalypse rolled around and Crowley was quietly panicking in front of Hastur and Ligur while holding a basket containing the Antichrist, the Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of This World, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan and Lord of Darkness and doing his best not to show it, they’d almost forgotten what it was like to be without the Marks.

_ **Oh, Heaven, Angel, you’re not going to believe the mess of trouble we are in.** _

**Author's Note:**

> 1 Sauntering, or Falling, from Heaven to Hell, did not actually change Crowley’s species, merely his job description, designation, and access to heavenly perks.[return to text]
> 
> 2 Interestingly enough, so are demons. On one hand, Soulmates are terrible plagues to demons everywhere, because they bring humanity wonderful love and companionship, and often elevate souls to be closer to Heaven. On the other hand, there’s all those reasons the angels are hesitant. Both sides are firmly agreed that it’s a good thing _they_ don’t have to deal directly with that nonsense.[return to text][3]
> 
> 3 Except for a few oddballs who’ve been stationed respectively Upside and Downside for Far Too Long, and often find themselves strangely wistfully jealous of humans. But that’s neither here nor there.[return to text]
> 
> 4 A lot.[return to text]
> 
> 5 More than one would-be saint had caught sight of Aziraphale’s fake Marks and immediately proclaimed him some sort of supernatural being, out to tempt their souls into sin for nefarious purposes. It was quite disheartening.[return to text][6]
> 
> 6 To be fair, they were partially correct, but he meant to influence them in Heavenly ways, not nefarious. Crowley got quite the laugh the first time Aziraphale brought this up in conversation, hoping for some sympathy.[return to text]
> 
> 7 It just so happened that this time, the accusations were correct.[return to text]
> 
> 8 For lack of a better word.[return to text]
> 
> 9 Not that he intended to ask for forgiveness. Be rather un-demon of him to do that.[return to text]
> 
> 10 A technical term, to be sure. The point is this- peanut butter is fine on its own, and so is jelly. Together, they are elevated and complement one another beautifully. This is essentially what Soulmates are. One, on their own, is complete and _needs_ nothing added. However, the two together become something _more_, something better that they wouldn’t be able to achieve on their own.[return to text]
> 
> 11 Giving each other faux Marks, against the will of Heaven and Hell, who most certainly would not appreciate their agents letting their thoughts flitter across the corporeal representations of the Enemy’s agent on Earth, of course. What did _you_ think it meant?[return to text]


End file.
